Edmonton or Calgary? (house, job market, schools)

[Rwarky]

Which of the two cities listed do you like the most? Why (i.e. cost of living, skyline, population, location, etc.)?

[mikeyyc]

It all depends on what you want.

Calgary-Mountains close (45 min) concentrated downtown core/skyline, very white collar/business oriented, getting very $$, chinooks in the winter

Edmonton-Real river valley, blue collar, less expensive, freeze your ass off winters, THE Mall

Both are roughly the same size 1M +/-, both booming Calgary has better flight connections and is closer to the border.

[albianstar]

HMMM
it depends
Calgary is newer looking, lots of bypass, overpasses, adn house afet house with out trees. Better if you want a more corporate job in oilfeild
home of the stampede
warmer but freak smowfall in say may sometimes

Edmonton is more blue collar, less developed downtown, roads- but really easy to get around
Nice older homes, also many new ones
many festivals, stuff always going on

Depends on what kind of job/ industry you are in adn what kind of city you like

[mels]

I agree with the others. Personally I like Calgary better, just the all over feel of the city and the proximity to Banff/Lake Louise and that area. Of course I wasn't looking to live there so I can't comment on the housing or job market.

[KerrTown]

Is Calgary warmer because it is in the south and Edmonton colder because it is in the north? Does Edmonton get worse snowstorms than Calgary because of its latitude?

[albianstar]

I would say calgary gets worse storms, they have freaky weather. Where they are they catch some wierd crosswinds and are more likly to have a blizzard in may, but have consistently warmer weather as well.
Edmonton is colder becouse it is more north. It snows sometime in late october to mid november and stays until april ish
they have quite a few -20 days in winter, but global warming is really taking effecty and there is much less snow than a few decades ago and the winters are getting warmer.

[Rwarky]

Which city has the greatest amount of diversity?

[mikeyyc]

Less about latitude and more about wind currents. Calgary gets warmer air from the Pacific Ocean due to the proximity to the mountains. Edmonton being more in the prairies doesn't get this benefit.

As far as diversity, Calgary has a large Asian population, predominantly Chinese, but lots of SE Asia as well, a growing South Asian population (Indian) and a rapidly growing African community (mostly East Africa; Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, etc.)

Minimal Hispanic population.

Historic caucasian population is either slavic or British ancestry. Although lots of Danes/Germans too.

Edmonton, haven't lived there in 30 years, but they don't call it Edmonchuk for no reason.

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Is Calgary warmer because it is in the south and Edmonton colder because it is in the north? Does Edmonton get worse snowstorms than Calgary because of its latitude?

The average temperatures for Edmonton are a little warmer in the summer, quite a bit colder in the winter and about the same spring and fall.

While being further north, Edmonton is also at a lower altitude.

I myself worked 4.5 north-northeast of Edmonton in Ft. McMurray and at least half the days in summer Ft. McMurray was one of the warmest places in Alberta. The average mid-summer temps are even higher (slightly) in Ft. McMurray, probably due to a much lower altitude than either Edmonton or Calgary.

Calgary is in a drier, sunnier and windier climate (on average) than Edmonton.
Record lows are lower in Edmonton but record summer highs are also higher in Edmonton.

The further south and east you go in Alberta, the drier the climate becomes. Towards the east there seem to be higher occurances in summer for hot days and hotter record highs.

The further southwest you go the more likely you get the chinooks, (native word for "snow eater") which are freakish warm spells that happen year-round but are most noticeable in fall, winter and spring.

[cfrobins]

Hi,

I am relocating to Edmonton with my 12year old son as I have secured a nursing post at University of Alberta Hospital.
Is accomodation affordable and readily available and are there good local schools in close proximity.
I am travelling from Australia so havent been able to check this out for myself!